The Trainer

     This past week was an interesting one for me. I got a puppy. He was an Alaskan Malamute, my dream dog. Adorableness, fluffy coat, everything you'd want in a little puppy- he had it. The day I got him I had such big hopes and dreams for the future.

Bentley

     My best friend from school and I had talked about this puppy for a long time. And with our first arrangement it would have made complete sense. But The way things ended up, namely me living alone, it was (in retrospect) not the best of ideas. My school schedule allows for a good amount of time off. However, all of that time is rather spread out. And between school, recreational activities, friends, everyday necessary excursions, etc., the time I had left to spend with the puppy was not enough. He was only two months old, so pretty young, and not trained at all. So, I took him on. I learned quickly, however, that he was as stubborn as he was cute. If he was left alone for even a moment, he would cry. And I don't mean little baby whines, I mean cry and screech like he was being stabbed over and over. Needless to say, this did not sit well with my neighbors. And given my need to go to school and exist in the real world, things were not working out. There were a lot of factors, which I will not go into, but there were a lot of things that went into my decision. So, today was a sad day for me as I drove back to Pitesti, Romania to give him back to the family I bought him from. Bentley (that was his name) will hopefully go to a home where they can give him all the time he requires and not just the leftovers. 

     But today on the way home I was thinking about my experience and a thought crossed my mind. God created us, and cares for us as his children, sacrifices so much for us. But what do we do? The smallest thing goes wrong and we cry and screech. Or we go our own stubborn way in life and ignore him. Or we make a mess in the world he gave us. We get ourselves into situations and then get upset at him for letting us do so. We see his punishment as unjust, his provision as insufficient, and we always want more of everything. We are just like puppies. We are needy, helpless, disobedient, whiny little things. But God doesn't give up on us. Instead he keeps looking out for us and training us up in the way we should go. He has given us his training manual and all we have to do is read it.

     God's grace is boundless. Throughout Biblical history, humans have proven their unworthiness and their stubbornness and yet God continues to punish, forgive, and give us another chance. And we take it and mess things up again. But God is love. He is a caring, but just, trainer. And we are his puppies who desperately need his guidance and training. So next time something happens that you may look to God and complain, take it as a gentle flick on the nose, learn from it, and use it to make your future better. We all need to learn lessons, and some of us make it more difficult on ourselves than it ought to be.